Hello Kitty is one of the cutest and most recognizable characters in the world, and while the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is almost as iconic in its own right, it’s certainly a lot different. Nevertheless, a new crossover between two brands is about to make a “Second Impact.”
Apparel and collectible company Lowrys Farm is releasing a series of items that combine Evangelion and Hello Kitty like never before. Casting the Sanrio cat in the form of several characters from the anime, the result is a line of disturbingly cute items that range from keychains to clothes. Launching soon through various venues, this adorable mash-up certainly qualifies as a “cute angel’s thesis.”
New Hello Kitty Collab Turns the Sanrio Cat Into Evangelion’s Rei & Asuka
Lowrys Farm’s new Hello Kitty x Evangelion items unite a benign, family-friendly character with a mecha anime known for deconstructing its genre and ushering in a wave of dark, introspective anime in the 1990s. While it’s definitely a strange crossover, the apparel is making the most of it with redesigns of the anime’s cast featuring the Sanrio mascot herself.
Hello Kitty is portrayed in the likeness of both Rei Ayanami and fellow EVA Unit pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, with “Rei” shown in her school uniform while “Asuka” is shown wearing her classic red plugsuit as if she’s about to go off into battle. The other two designs take a much different approach, with Hello Kitty portrayed as both the antagonistic Angel known as Sachiel (the first Angel seen in the anime) and the iconic EVA Unit-01 mecha. If these designs weren’t cute enough, fans can get them on a plethora of items.
Sold for 7,700 yen (or around US$53), the Evangelion x Hello Kitty Sweat Pullover is a warm way to wear these cute character redesigns. There are also kids’ variants (sizes 110 cm, 130 cm and 150 cm) of these same shirts, with these costing 4,400 JPY/approximately US$30. The Evangelion x Hello Kitty Toy Keychains (3,990 JPY/~US$27) are plushie versions of the designs, making what was already adorable into something even more huggable. Finally, the Evangelion x Hello Kitty Mirror Mobile Grips take the images of Hello Kitty Asuka and Hello Kitty Rei (with both versions seen in the character’s iconic finger-to-mouth pose) and turns them into phone grips that even have built-in mirrors.
Set to launch in the first week of February, the collectibles will also be available physically starting that same week. The collaboration comes about a year after major anniversary milestones for both Hello Kitty and Neon Genesis Evangelion, with the latter franchise still releasing numerous collectibles and merchandise decades after the end of the original anime series.
Megumi Ogata
Shinji Ikari
Megumi Hayashibara
Rei Ayanami
